The Ambleside Inn - the Inn Collection Group

I’m not one to write bad reviews, but this really shocked me. They get two stars because our waiter was absolutely lovely, the others at my table were happy with their drinks and food, and it looked lovely for them. But my god is it overpriced. I first had a pint of Best- which had a hair in it. Second poured pint of best- oily, slick & a smell of sulphur. Third pint was a different beer, which tasted lovely, but the glass had clearly not been renovated for weeks, so it was dirty with yeast build up, bubbles clinging to the sediment on the glass & i couldn’t drink more than a few mouthfuls. The way the staff were pouring the pints was verging on painful, with the nozzle in the middle of the glass, having almost 5 inches of head, then over pouring to knock the head off completely. A Cask Marque course is desperately needed. My food came and I had asked about what potato’s it was served with, they said dauphinois, but failed to mention the turnip they put in. The belly pork piece was almost half as thick in comparison to others on my table. For £19.50, it was really poor. I’d thought after three bad pints, forgetting to mention the extra ingredients in the potato’s, and a slither of belly pork fat, they’d refund. But unfortunately i was left hungry, with no refund because “chef said it was fine” Our poor waiter did his best & i really felt for him. I left here both upset and hungry, having had no replacement drink offered, or a refund of my food.

This was our second B&B stay at the Ambleside Inn, and overall another good experience. The inn is ideally situated right in the heart of Ambleside making all the shops, pubs, restaurants an easy walk away and Ambleside itself is a great location for seeing many major sites by car. The inn itself is an older pub, wooden beams and paneled interior, comfy, good ambience, and quite spacious with many tables and it seems like 3-4 ales on tap. Staff work hard and are constantly rushed off their feet, and with perhaps the exception of one older chap are extremely friendly and welcoming. Breakfast is very good with excellent cook to order items and a good cereal/fruit/coffee self serve area. Lady who does breakfast extremely busy and friendly, she holds it all together for the mornings it seems. Evening food options we tried a couple of nights as it's possible to make reservation if you are a resident. I would say the evening food leaves a lot to be desired in terms of both value and quality - so stay for the breakfast but for dinner there are much better options elsewhere in the village. The room we stayed in was decent sized with a 2x singles together double bed and a separated room with bunk bed for the kids. Linen was good quality. Bathroom a bit small but hot shower. Overall we thought the family room was much better proportioned than the one we got on our first stay and seemed less worn. Being situated near the front with single glazed sash window it was noisy some nights from below but it's to be expected and didn't bother us and really our fault for being in so early with kids / stopped promptly before 11 even on Saturday. The only issue I'd have with the room is it was not cleaned/sheets were not changed once during the stay even though we put the 'please make up room' sign on the door each day as advised. It was not a big deal for us given the short stay but for the price I'd have expected it. Parking being Ambleside is challenging but if you can get a spot on Rydall Road pay and display nearby it's easy enough. There are 30 mins bays to help load/unload if you can get one. Overall I'd certainly recommend staying for the pub, for the breakfast, and for the location. I think if they hired just a little more staff to stay on top of the room servicing and bar queues it would make it better.

We didn’t stay here, we ate here, I’ll keep this brief, don’t eat here, the food is virtually inedible, there are very many better places to eat locally and we regret giving this place a try. No apologies from staff about the food (apparently a new menu) and as you have to prepay at the bar there isn’t an opportunity for staff to waive or discount the bill. We couldn’t finish our food and I suspect that’s why our plates were left with us for 40 minutes on our table while we finished our drinks.

Terrible nights sleep, noisy people from the pub below the rooms and rock hard pillows. People from the pub roaming the bedroom room corridors ‘lost’. Whilst checking in, the guy decided to answer the phone and I had to stand there like a lemon whilst he finished the call before handing me the key about 5 minutes later. I didn’t get offered any hot breakfast when I went down for breakfast the next morning.

We called in for a hot drink, while on a recent break based in windermere. The hotel is well situated in the heart of town and the bar area is great. There's comfy seats and tables and it has a very welcoming atmosphere. The lady behind the bar was very friendly and helpful. The toilets were very clean and situated down some stairs and along a few corridors. Ambleside itself is small but has a few shops, restaurants and coffee bars. We'd parked away from the centre in the first car park we reached from Windermere. It was about a 10 minute walk into the centre. We've stayed at other inn collection hotels and found them to be a good chain. On this occasion we stayed in Windermere because we needed parking.

Had a 4 night stay with family, staff were excellent, friendly very accommodating, very relaxed atmosphere in the bar area , food good and plenty of choice.

Stopped in twice yesterday. First for tea before heading out for a chilly walk. Then, for lunch after hike. The wait and bar staff are very welcoming and helpful. The sweet potato curry was outstanding. Definitely add the pita to clean up your bowl. The soup of the day was a huge letdown and sadly it was the reason we returned for lunch. Soup was a potato and leek that tasted like neither. Sorely lacking both salt and pepper. Soup was more emulsified fat than broth. Makes me wonder if anyone tasted it or if cook is a smoker. Would not return because of this.

The potato and leek soup must have come from a tin or packet as it was gloopy and tasteless with a skin on. The grilled bread was burnt so we asked for just the bread. With all the wonderful competition I was not expecting such a poor standard of food

The breakfast was small, overpriced and uninspired. Reported broken bathroom door within an hour but still not repaired by the time we left. Unhelpful reception staff. Uneven flooring. The beds and bathroom were clean though! Room generally very tired and in need of decorating